September 24, 2014

~*~ Blog Tour & Review ~*~ Love, Always by Yessi Smith

**This book is intended for a mature reading audience and isn't
suitable for readers under the age of 17.**

In love with a man on the brinks of greatness, Dee has her life
figured out. The love they share is comparable only to the love they feel when
they find out Dee is pregnant. Josh and Dee welcome their future together with
eagerness as they plan a wedding, baby, and the upcoming tour for Josh’s band
Wasted Circle. Big things are finally happening.

During Wasted Circle’s first big show, tragedy strikes leaving
Dee alone. The life her and Josh planned for ends up being nothing but desolate
promises. Unable to watch his best friend’s girlfriend drown under her own
despair any longer, Adam steps in to help Dee cope with her loss and the
upcoming birth of her baby. Adam is patient, kind and unrelenting. He stands by
her side, never faltering despite his growing desire to be more than Dee’s
supportive shoulder and the idea that he is betraying Josh. He refuses to give
up on Dee and remains loyally by her side even when she admits herself into a
psychiatric ward and he is left to father Josh and Dee’s baby.

But even sweet and sturdy Adam has his limits.

Shit.

I
reach my trembling fingers down and feel the sticky wax between my
legs. I rub the strip back over the wax, hoping it’ll stick this time,
to no avail.

This isn’t happening. Please, this can’t possibly be happening.

I
reach for the package the wax came in and with it in my hand. I sit on
the toilet lid, reading to see if there’s any emergency instructions.
Nope. Nada.

Maybe warm water. I go to stand up to run a warm bath, but am barely able to inch upward.

I’m
stuck to the toilet lid! With my hands on my face, I start to laugh
until tears pour out of my eyes. I’ve glued myself to the damn toilet!

“Hayley!” I yell through my hands and tremble in laughter when she peeks in.

“What
is it, babe?” She rushes to my side with worry seeping through her
pores, which causes me to laugh harder. She rubs her hand over my back
trying to console me until I can contain myself.

“I’m
not crying.” I wipe the tears from my face and she arches her eyebrows
at me. “Okay, I am crying, but I’m fine. Or I will be. I just need your
help.”

I
explain my dilemma to her, and within seconds she is lying by my side
on the floor in hysterics. At least I keep my life amusing.

“Okay,”
she breathes. “Okay. Maybe the package.” She picks it up, but I tell
her I’ve already read through it. “Did you follow the instructions?”

“I let it cool down a bit too much I think,” I admit. “Maybe if I run a warm bath it’ll come off.”

“So we just need to get you off the toilet.”

I nod. “First run the bath.”

“We need a first aid kit. Just in case.”

“Right.”

A first aid kit. For my inner butt. I should probably blog about this.

Hayley leaves me as she searches for my stash of antiseptic and band aids. Maybe she’ll find my pride along with it.

She returns quickly with a handful of crap and a big grin on her face. “You’re tweeting about this, aren’t you?”

I shrug. “No such thing as TMI on social media.”

Hayley puts her hand under my arm and we nod at each other. “Count of three,” she whispers. “One, two, three.”

With her help, I stand up hard, taking the toilet lid with me. Well at least I’m no longer stuck to the whole toilet.

Hayley looks at me, and I’m afraid I’m going to burst into real tears. I have a toilet lid stuck to my ass.

“Well, there’s a fashion statement.” Hayley grins, and I gently sit back down with my new appendage.

I follow her into my bedroom and hold onto the bed frame as instructed while I wait for her to pull the lid off.

“Count of three?” she asks and I shake my head.

“Surprise me.” I close my eyes and grip my bed tightly.

Surprise
me she does when she yanks the lid clean off, breaking it into two
pieces, and lands on her butt. I’m too tired to yell from the pain, but
manage a few giggles when I see my friend holding the broken lid
triumphantly over her head like some warped version of the Incredible
Hulk.

I reach between my legs again and whimper when I feel the glue still there.

“That’s what the warm water’s for,” she reminds me.

“But what if I get stuck to the bottom of the tub?”

“Don’t let your ass touch the bottom, stupid.”

“I’m not the one holding two broken pieces of a dirty toilet, asshole.”

Hayley drops the lid with a hard thud and glares at me. “Who glued themselves to that same toilet, dipshit?”

“You girls okay?” Max calls through the door.

“Yes,” we sing in unison and start to laugh once again.

“Warm bath.” I nod, hoping I remember not to let my ass touch the bottom.

“You want a wash cloth?” she asks, but then laughs, probably picturing it stuck to me as well.

I step into the tub on weak knees and exhale slowly as I get ready to not quite sit in the tub.

“Oil!”
Hayley exclaims, pulling me out of my tub. She reaches for the box and
dumps the rest of the contents on my bathroom countertop, squealing when
the small tube of oil falls out.

“I’m an idiot.”

“World class jackass,” she agrees.

“Out.” I push her towards the door but she plops herself on the floor adamant to see the grand finale of this performance.

I
glare at her without much vehemence. I’m far too excited to see if the
oil will work. I rub my fingers together with the oil and run them over
the glue, which miraculously begins to dissolve.

I shriek in delight, pouring more oil all over my hand and enthusiastically rid myself of the wax while Hayley snorts behind me.

This book…. It was simply amazing!!

I found myself on a roller coaster of emotions with the
characters, right from the get go you are hit with joy about a new life being
brought into the world and not soon after you are part of dealing with the tragic
loss of Josh. Adam is the perfect book boyfriend, sweet, caring, hot, and
devoted which is refreshing to see in a Rock Star character as most are
a-typical tough guys that bury their feelings. Dee has so much to deal with
after the loss of Josh and finds herself spiraling out of control, Adam steps
up to help her and pushes his guilt and feelings aside to keep Dee on track.
Life doesn’t always make sense and these characters show that even in the worst
of times there is goodness to be found. Adam and Dee have plenty of ups and
downs but the revelations that occur are priceless. I love how seamlessly all
the characters interact with each other and just flow. Dee’s best friend Haley
is priceless with her tell it like it is attitude made her the perfect
counterpart. This is the first book I have ever read by Yessi and I will
definitely be going back and grabbing her other stories!!

***5 Stars***

I'm a Hispanic living in
South Florida with my redneck husband from Texas and our "half breed"
son, who is actually the reason I started writing again after years of
celibacy. My son loves stories, but not the kind you can read in an existing
book. No, he'd rather make up a story, complete with our own illustrations. So,
thank you, Son, for igniting a flame I had let go out.

I also live with two dogs: a neurotic Border Collie we call Nitro and a midget
Rottweiler named Nisa.

I have always found my sanctuary at the beach and in music and writing. I wish
I could write rhymes so I could become a famous rapper, but rhyming is
completely lost on me. My son surpassed me in the rhyming game by the time he
was four. This is something I am very proud of.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and a Master's in Human
Resource Management. I have held several jobs, from picking up dog poop to
upper management positions. And now I am hoping to leave the business world
behind so I can live full time in a world that does not exist until I place my
fingers on a keyboard and bring them to fruition.